Michael Everest Demarco is a study in being so natural and laid back that you’d never guess he’s something of a celebrity. On my end, it was hard to tell if that was something he was doing on purpose or if that’s just the slice of his home that the New Orleans native was brought to New York.
“Do the two cities have anything in common?” I asked, easing into our interview.
“They both have people. That’s about it.” I chuckle. But it’s probably the truth. The man had the most relaxed set of shoulders as we walked around, and I started chatting him up.
What I was really trying to do was find out what shaped him and how early. I wanted to dig as deep as possible and go all the way back to what inspired the young Michael Everest Demarco before he even knew what an actor was.
I looked up from my phone just in time to see him shove a gigantic New York Street Vendor Hot Dog in my direction, wound with ribbons of ketchup and mustard each a centimeter wide.
“Interviews aren’t for empty stomachs,” he said. And I agreed. I had just been treated to lunch by Michael Everest Demarco. I was honored.
Really Early On
He chewed thoughtfully and told me that his dad used to bring home a bunch of classic cartoons from the ‘30s and ‘40s. They were the cheapest thing in the VHS bin, so that’s what he got when he wanted to watch cartoons on video.
“Gabby stuck out to me,” he said. “I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but the character was believable because of his voice actor, Pinto Colvig. And I found out much later that he was the same guy that voiced Walt Disney’s Goofy.”
I didn’t know that. Nor did I know who Gabby was. Michael Everest Demarco knew classic cartoons better than anyone, it seemed.
A Little Later in Time
“As I grew up, I started noticing actors with really expressive eyes. The kind of people that could be quiet for the whole movie, but you’d still get the story just by looking in their faces.”
“Such as?” I pushed.
“Well, Marty Feldman, for starters,” he said, laughing. And I was just old enough to know who he was referring to. I tried to imagine Michael Everest Demarco with those buggy eyes.
“But then the guy that performed right next to him fit the same shoe, Gene Wilder. If Young Frankenstein had been a silent movie, Gene could have told the whole story with that face of his, I swear.”
“Who else shaped the Michael Everest Demarco we know?”
“Well, who else has crazy eyes on-camera? Christopher Lloyd!” he says, bumping my shoulder. His humor is hard for me to process since I can’t tell if he’s kidding or not. Apparently, he was serious because he added:
“I noticed that my eyes weren’t as expressive as they felt. I’d watch myself on tape, and at moments that I thought I was really projecting the role through my eyes, I looked like a mask. It was depressing. So I tried imitating Christopher Lloyd’s lines and scenes in front of a mirror. It didn’t get me where I wanted, but it worked. I got a little better.”
We shook hands and parted ways after a little more pleasantries.
